spencer



(No Model.)

0. F. SPENCER. FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 283,159. Patented Aug. 14, 1883.

or suspension device, with a suspension dej UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE...

CHARLESF. SPENCER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

F.l H E-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 283,159,'dated August 14, 18 83.

' Application filed AprilQ'I, 1883. (No model.)

. v of which the occupants of burning buildings may escape from the upper portions thereof.

The invention relates to that class of devices in which a rope or line extended downward from thewindow or other opening is employed in connection with a sling or suspension device by means of which the user-is enabled to pass down the line.

It is the particular aim of the invention to provide a device which may be used alike with men, women, and children, and which shall not require the exercise of skill or judgment 011 the part of the user during the course l of descent.

To this end it consists in the combination of a divided line, the lower ends of which may be separated to arrest the descent of the sling vice provided with a hook and with an internally toothed slide, as hereinafter explained.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a. building with my escape applied in connection therewith. Fig. 21s a side view of the sling or suspension device. Fig. 3 is a view illustrating in vertical section and in end elevation the clasp used upon the sling to fasten the same to the body.

The escape consists simply of the lineA and suspension device 13. The line may consist of two lines of rope united at their upper end and capable of being separated at their lower .ends; or it may consist of a single line having its lower ends only divided and adapted to be drawn apart, as represented in the from each other. At the-upper end the rope drawings. The lower extremities are to be will be provided with an eyebolt, a, a crossbar, or other equivalent device, by means of which it may be readily secured in position within or adjacent to awindow or other opening.

The sling B consists, as shown in the drawings, of an endless strap or band of rope, I), provided at the top with a hook, c, by means of which it may be suspended from the line, and with a sliding collar or band, (Z, by means of which it may be contracted about the per son of the wearer beneath the arms. The slide is preferably provided on the inside, as shown in Fig. 3, with hooked. teeth or projections 6, adapted to engage with the sling to retain it in the required position thereon. In ordinary cases I provide for each rope or line a number of slings constructed as above.

In making use of the device the line or rope is secured at its upper end in or adjacent to a window or other opening in the upper story of a building, and the lower ends extended thence outward at the base of the building a suitable distance and separated from each other, being held and secured in position. An occupant desiring to escape places the sling about the body beneath his arms, forces the slide (1 downward until the sling is secured firmly about the body, and then, engaging the hook 0 upon the line, casts himself from the opening, whereupon he will slide freely down theline. 'As the lower ends of the line are approached they will, by reason of their divergence, gradually arrest the descent of the sling, and thus permit the occupant to alight insafety. This operation may be repeated by any number of persons, each of whom will-be provided with a sling.

Among the advantages incident to my apparatus may be mentioned as two of the most important the fact that no skill or judgment is required on the part of the operator to control his descent, and thefact that, unlike those devices which employ frictional brakesgand clamps, there is no danger of the slide becoming fast upon the line and leaving the occupant suspended in mid-air.

The present invention is restricted to those matters and things which are hereinafter claimed, and as to all matters which may be pension-hook c, the slide d,pr0vi( 1ed with the internal teeth, as and for the purpose de described or shown, but which are not claimed,

the right-is reserved to make the same the scribed. r subject of a separate application. CHAS. F. SPENCER. 5 Having thus described my invention, what I I Vitnesses:

claim is I SIDNEY P. HOLLINGSWORTH,

HARRY SHIPLEY.

In combination with the band I) and its sus- 

